The Passover Haggadah is the book which contains the order of service for the two Seder nights. The word Haggadah means the 'Telling'. This is the book which recounts the Exodus story and contains the psalms and songs which are recited and sung in celebration of the events.

In one modern Passover Haggadah, the leader begins the Seder with these words: "Now in the presence of loved ones and friends, before us the emblems of festive rejoicing, we gather for our sacred celebration. With the household of Israel, our elders and young ones, linking and bonding the past with the future, we heed once again the divine call to service. Living our story that is told for all peoples, whose shining conclusion is yet to unfold, we gather to observe the Passover, as it is written,

"You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of Egypt. You shall observe this day throughout the generations as a practice for all times."

The leader continues, "We assemble in fulfillment of the mitzvah: 'Remember the day on which you went forth from Egypt, from the house of bondage, and how God freed you with a mighty hand.'"

I know that many of you are already familiar with the story of Passover, whether you've read the Book of Exodus in the Bible or heard it at a Passover Seder or saw it in a movie. Maybe you saw that classic Hollywood movie from 50 years ago, "The Ten Commandments." I remember that movie so vividly. But back then, at around age 9, I didn't realize that the theme of this story, a people's struggle for liberation, is so universal. I didn't realize back then that the story of Passover has relevance for many people today.

Many Jews in America and Israel, whether religiously observant or secular, celebrate Passover with family and friends at home around the dinner table. Some Unitarian Universalist congregations hold annual Seders as well... often in church function halls... open to everyone who wants to come. Each year at the Passover Seder, Jews read out loud the story of the liberation of their ancestors from Egypt. In the version I remember from my childhood, it was worded as if WE were the ones enslaved in Egypt and that WE are the ones whom God liberated. As it was written in the Book of Exodus: "Remember the day on which YOU went forth from Egypt, from the house of bondage, and how God freed YOU with a mighty hand."

As I told the children this morning, the story of Passover is about how, after hundreds years of slavery in Egypt, the Jews were freed by the leadership of Moses with the help of God. What I didn't tell the children was that it is also about how the Jewish people developed as a proud and independent nation. So Passover is not just another religious holiday ... but it is the seminal or central story of Jewish identity. It has defined Jewish identity throughout history as a people freed by God from oppression, as a people chosen to have a special covenantal relationship with God... and as a people with the heavy obligation to be a moral light to the world.

The Passover story doesn't end with crossing the Red Sea. The physical liberation from Egypt was just the beginning. A psychological and spiritual liberation or transformation, if you will, must happen, too. For slavery isn't only a physical state; it is also a state of mind. In fact, some of the Hebrew slaves resisted following Moses because they feared what lay on the other side. They feared a long and difficult trek through the wilderness, which would bring hardship and perhaps death. Freedom isn't always easy, for sure.

Here's the scene. The Hebrew people have just been freed from their bondage and have crossed the Red Sea... which some scholars say is a mistranslation of "Reed" Sea. The people are joyous. Their pursuers, the unfortunate Egyptian charioteers and their horses, have just been drowned behind them by a miracle. Moses leads the men in singing a song praising the Lord for their deliverance. And Moses' sister Miriam leads the women in a victory dance, shaking her tambourine.

The scripture continues with the story: "Then Moses ordered Israel to set out from the Red Sea and they crossed into the wilderness of Shur." (Exodus 15:22) The long journey, the journey of 40 years begins. It's a tough journey; certainly not a nature hike. First for three days there's no water. Then the water they find tastes bitter. The people complain to Moses, "What shall we drink?" Some say, "Why did you bring us here in the first place. Just to die of thirst in the desert?" It takes another miracle for Moses to bring them clean water. As God commands, he throws a piece of wood into the water and the water becomes sweet.

Then there's the matter of food. When the matzo, the unleavened bread they baked in Egypt for the journey, begins to run out, they begin to panic. Wouldn't you? The people complain again. It is written, "The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." (Exodus 16:3)

Really now, who could blame them, these newly freed slaves with an uncertain future? Not knowing how to take care of themselves in an unfamiliar environment. Not quite trusting God and his man Moses to guide them through the desert to who knows where.

Again, the Redeemer saves the day with a miracle, manna from heaven. Of course, it comes with restrictions. God's commandments must be followed exactly in the way the manna is to be gathered each morning. And manna, whether baked or boiled, must have been awfully boring after a while. But at least it keeps them alive.

When they ask for meat, God sends them quail, enough to last for a month. Hope and trust in the Lord begin to grow. Trust in a steadfast God who will lead them safely through the wilderness. Hope that their future will end well in a new, more fertile land. For the present, they are just nomads living in tents and following a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. These feelings of hope and trust are new and fragile.

Isn't that true for anyone just released from captivity? From oppression or from abuse? He may not quite believe he's free and look to others for direction. She may suffer from a deep wounding of her spirit, a lack of self esteem. She may avoid eye contact and may barely speak above a whisper. The freed person even may long for the old familiar ways. These ways may have been uncomfortable and damaging, even potentially fatal. But at least it meant food and shelter. Those who have suffered awful oppression are so used to being on the defensive, not trusting, ducking danger. Believing in a hopeful future is difficult. How can they trust the powers that be to be good to them and give them happiness? Even believing in their own inherent worth and dignity as human beings is not automatic.

Healing takes place slowly. Trust in the world and hope for the future are essential for this to happen. For the Israelites, it took time to believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whom they called Elohim, was really on their side. It took time to change their loyalty from the golden calf of Egypt to the God of Israel.

During the first three months of the journey, the story goes, Moses leads his people to Mount Sinai. There on the holy mountain, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments and a whole set of laws for his people to live by. These laws bring greater justice and order to this nomadic society. Leaders are appointed to keep the laws. These are also the laws of a compassionate God, who listens to the pleas of the suffering, the widow and the orphan. God promises (speaking through Moses) to guide and protect the Israelites as long as they hold up their side of the bargain... obedience and honor. They must obey the strict Mosaic Law, these laws handed down by God to Moses. And they must honor their God with prayers and praise.

To make a long story short... a story of forty years of wandering ...this rag-tag and diverse group of ex slaves, the Israelites, became a strong, cohesive and independent people. Some say that God had them wander around for 40 years so that the old, slave generation would die out and only their free-born children would enter the Promised Land.

Underlying this Mosaic Law are the moral precepts upon which Judaism, Christianity and Islam are based: Simply to love your neighbor as yourself and to lead a just, honest and holy life. The Jewish people are commanded to be just even to the "resident alien" or stranger for "you were once strangers in Egypt." The lesson from their own suffering in Egypt is to be remembered every year at the Passover Seder. And from this remembrance comes compassion for all other peoples who may be oppressed or suffering. This ancient story is truly a universal and timeless one.

Did you know there's not just one version of the Passover Haggadah, but many? For it is a living and growing tradition. Many link the ancient story to present day forms of oppression. This may be the forced labor in the prisons of China or the genocide in Darfur. It may be the subjugation of women around the world. All of humanity is encompassed in the directive to "love your neighbor as yourself."

Passover is a holiday which can have many meanings. I think it can have a personal as well political meaning. It's as much about our individual journeys as about the journey of a people.

Many of us here today are on a journey of exploration and discovery and perhaps even of our own liberation. We too are on a trek through the wilderness, trying to figure out who we are and what we believe. Most of us have left our old, familiar cultures ... those "fleshpots of Egypt." Hopefully, it will not take years of wandering and a second generation to forge a new identity. We, like the ancient Israelites, often have mixed feelings about leaving the old ways, even if they were personally crippling. On one hand, we may be sad and sometimes feel guilty about leaving. We may leave behind our loved ones who can't or won't follow us on the journey. On the other hand, we may feel overwhelming joy at the fresh breeze of freedom. Even if the journey ahead is uncertain, we have hope.

Isn't it very American, this journey of liberation? This story of pulling up roots, of having choices and of moving from a place of oppression and toward a better future? Yet may the story of Passover also remind us that the desire for liberation, peace and happiness is one shared by all humanity.

May the Spirit of Life be with us and guide us through the wilderness of our personal journeys. May it comfort and protect us and lead us to a place of happiness and peace.

Amen and blessed be.